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TopeakFrontBicycleBasket
A front basket is a great upgrade because it adds more weight to the front wheel on the motor. (more traction) It's also adds an easy place to drop a backpack and avoid getting 'sweaty bag back' on hot days. Juiced Riders is building their own front basket which should be out mid 2014. However, I needed something to use now. I have been pretty happy with this solution which I recently put together. The front mount points provided on the V3 are a little unusual, so I had to hack together my own mounting kit. It seems to have worked pretty well when attached to a Top Peak Front Basket. It's a 16L basket that comes with mounting hardware that would normally go on handle bars. I build my own mounts using some hardware from a local hardware store and used a dremmel to cut it to suit. We will see how well it stands up to daily use. :) What To Buy I bought the Top Peak Front Basket at a local bike shop , but it's also available on Amazon. The cost should be $30-$40. The metal I used for strapping is Stanley - Slotted Flats . I got it in a 1 3/8" by 4 foot section for around $8. I also got various washers, and some small bolts and nuts to add some strength and surface area for around $12. (FIXME: Try to document actual washer sizes, etc.) Installation This project took a while to do, but I did a lot of experimenting as I went along. Hopefully these notes will make it easier for the next person who tries something similar. I used a Dremmel tool with a cutting wheel to make my cuts in the metal and basket and a grinding bit to grind down the sharp edges for safety. I used needle nose pliers, a rubber mallet, and wooden jigs to bend the metal. (In retrospect a nice vice would have been helpful to have.) You're basically making two shaped mounts that both have a some bends in them. The top mount goes through the existing stregthened part of the basket where there are existing slots. I used a section of strapping 7 full holes and two half holes long. I drilled a support hole in the basket and put a bolt through the center of the mount strap -- attaching a washer and nut on the back to add some strength and secure the strap to the basket. The top mount is shaped something like a 'A'. It widens out as it goes back towards the bike. (see diagram below) The bottom mount I made slightly wider so that I could wrap it around the veritcal bars in the basket for extra strength. I used a secion of strapping 9 full holes and two half holes long. I had to dremmel some thin slots in the basket outside the veritcalbars to pass my mount through. Since this mount was wider, I drilled two holes through the mesh and put in two bolts, washers and nuts to add some strength and secure the strap to the basket. The bottom mount is shaped something like a 'T'. It gets more narrow as it come back towards the bike. (see diagram below) Note that I did not have clean 90 degree turns in the mounts as shown in the diagram, it was actually more of a smooth bend. (see the image with the actual bends) I spend some extra time grinding down the edges where I cut the strap to remove any sharp edges. The last part involved securing the mounts to the bike. I used washers and lock nuts to keep it in place. Notes My hex bolts on the stem of the bike were very diificult to remove. (some sort of white threadlock perhaps?) It can be a little tricky sliding the mounts in to the slots in the basket, so it may be easier to make your rear bends after you've secured the mount to the basket. I have been expecting the basket to tear a bit where the bottom bracket mounts, but have not yet seen that. The strapping is galvenized, but I am unsure of how well the straps and hardware will hold up to the outside environment. It might make sense to find a black rubberized paint to cover the it up? (something similar to whatever TopPeak puts on their basket.)